


Papa Was a Rolling Stone

by kitlee625



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 17:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1697084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>May and Coulson get help from an unexpected source while on a mission. Or, the one in which Melinda May’s father is James Bond.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Papa Was a Rolling Stone

**Author's Note:**

> This came from my crack theory that, since Melinda May's mother is a secret agent played by Tsai Chin, her father might be James Bond. This also uses the theory that James Bond is a title, rather than a single man. The title comes from the song "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" by The Temptations.
> 
> This is based on the same headcanon as "Make This Place Your Home" and "Learn to Fly," although you don't have to have read those stories to understand this one.
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful collaborator/beta reader Sarahastro.

_What do you mean, she joined S.H.I.E.L.D.?_

_Just what I said._

_She’s still just a child. I thought you were going to recruit her for the CIA._

_Peggy convinced her to enroll in S.H.I.E.L.D. academy._

_Of all the agencies to join._

_I know. I already told Peggy that if anything happens to Melinda, I will personally ensure that the CIA never cooperates with them again._

_Tell her that the same goes for MI6._

*****

Coulson stares at the comm unit sputtering useless in his hand. “It wasn’t supposed to be a combat op.”

May rolls her eyes. “How many times are you going to say that?” She peers out the window of the building they are holed up in and fires several shots into the street.

He gives her a guilty look. “I’m sorry, Melinda.”

She is not sure if he is apologizing for repeating himself, or for needing to be rescued. She would have been back at the rendezvous point already if she had not come back for him. She tosses him another clip. “Cover the other window.”

Coulson snatches the clip out of the air and crawls to the other side of the room. He has been shot in the shoulder, but he assures her that it is only a flesh wound. The building they are hiding in is surrounded by Hydra agents, with more coming every minute. With the radio dead, and no backup to speak of, neither of them are sure how they are going to get out alive. May peers out of the window and wonders if it is worth making a run for it.

Before she can decide one way or the other, the door blows open to reveal a well-dressed man with dark hair.

“Come on. Hurry.”

May and Coulson both train their weapons on him.

“Who are you?” Coulson demands.

The man gives them a withering look. “The name is Bond, James Bond. MI6.”

Eyes wide with excitement, Coulson glances at May who looks unimpressed.

“Why should we trust you?” she asks.

“I don’t give a damn if you trust me, but if you want to live, you’ll follow me.”

May looks at Coulson, who shrugs. This really is their only way out. “Fine. Lead the way.”

*****

Later that night, after he has delivered them safely to an MI6 base, Bond is sitting in his apartment in London staring moodily at his martini. He has gotten an earful from M about going into a Hydra base to rescue two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents without authorization, but when he had heard their distress call and realized that one of those agents was Melinda May, he could not stand by and do nothing.

This is the first time he has ever even seen his daughter. She bears a strong resemblance to her mother, with hardly a trace of him on her face. A small part of him had been hoping for something that would reveal his part in her creation - her eyes or her nose perhaps. But she truly is her mother’s daughter, right down to the unimpressed stare when he burst through the door.

Her mother had not even told him that she was pregnant. A fellow MI6 agent had heard about it years later when she had transferred from the field to a supervisory role at Langley. When he had confronted her, she refused to let him meet Melinda.

“She’s my daughter, and I’m not going to put her at greater risk than she already is.”

“I’m her father, goddamnit. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“What about your enemies? How many of them would jump at the chance to use her against you?”

He knew that she was right. It is safer to stay away. As a consolation, she has kept him updated with the major milestones in Melinda’s life. He knew when she graduated from high school, when she joined S.H.I.E.L.D., and when she graduated from the Academy with some of the highest marks ever. But he knows next to nothing about what she is like, what she cares about, or why she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place.

He wonders if this is the only time he will see her. Before too long, he will hang up his license to kill and pass along this identity to his successor. Then who will he be? A middle aged man either riding a desk at MI6 or living anonymously on a tropical island. He cannot imagine that Melinda May will have time for either.

The agent at the base tells him that after being cleared by the medical team, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were given rooms in a nearby hotel. As he drives there, he runs through what he might say to her and rejects all possibilities. After so many years, he cannot announce that he is her father and expect anything in return. He decides that he will offer to buy her a drink at the hotel bar and go from there. Perhaps with the threat of danger removed and a few cocktails between them, she will open up to him more than she did during their escape. From what he has seen of her today, he understands why Peggy was eager to get recruit her. She has the qualities of a perfect agent - strong, fearless, loyal. Her devotion to her teammate he finds both admirable and puzzling. He has always worked best alone, as did her mother, and he is not sure if in her position he would have risked everything to save an injured teammate.

He spots her in the hotel bar, sitting next to her teammate. She looks flushed from the alcohol and is leaning against him, her body curled against his. He has one arm around her, the other in a sling from the bullet he took in the shoulder. He is looking at her with a mixture of adoration and admiration, and Bond knows immediately that they are lovers.

Before he can walk over to them, they get up from the bar. The young man leaves some money, and they walk back towards the elevators hand in hand. He follows them at a discreet distance until they disappear into her hotel room.

*****

_You were supposed to stay away._

_I did what you asked for twenty years, but I had to step in. I couldn’t let her fall into the hands of Hydra._

_Did you tell her?_

_I didn’t have the chance. She disappeared into her hotel room with the agent she was working with._

_Young, pale man in a suit?_

_Yes._

_Oh, that’s Phillip._

_They’re involved?_

_Since the Academy._

_She could have made it to the rendezvous point alone, but she went back for him. Why would she do that? Is it because they’re involved?_

_She is quite fond of Phillip, but Melinda’s always been very compassionate. She could never leave anyone behind._


End file.
